Obama gets a taste of the presidential life

ABOARD A U.S. AIR FORCE JET – Barack Obama got a taste of U.S presidential life on Sunday, traveling from Chicago to Washington on the military aircraft often used to fly Vice President Dick Cheney.

The plane, an Air Force Boeing 757, had all the trappings of Air Force One: the presidential seal at the front, name cards with the seal, and cups and plates emblazoned “Air Force One.”

Obama said he got a little choked up before leaving his Chicago home for the U.S. capital where he will take office on Jan. 20. He said it hit him as he flipped through a photo album a friend gave his 10-year-old daughter Malia.

“I just looked through the pages. The house was empty. It was a little tough. It got me,” he told reporters. His wife Michelle, Malia and daughter Sasha, 7, arrived in Washington on Saturday. The girls start school on Monday.

The Obamas will stay at the luxury Hay Adams Hotel across a park from the White House until Jan. 15 when they move into Blair House, a guest house near the White House.